Nearly half a million people in the U.S. may be allergic to red meat, thanks to spit from the lone star tick.
Alpha-gal is the new bug-borne scourge, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a report released Thursday, which estimated at least 100,000 people — and probably more like 450,000 — have what has come to be known as alpha-gal syndrome.
About 4% of the cases found in the U.S. have occurred on the East End of Long Island.
Alpha-gal, a sugar, is present in all mammals except humans. The same compound is found in tick saliva, and when it enters the body through the skin — as tick spit is wont to do — a person creates antibodies.
The sugar normally isn’t troublesome when ingested, but after, the body of someone who is tick-bit will mount an immune response. After infection, someone consuming beef, pork, venison, rabbit and other meat, as well as products including milk or gelatin, will have a potentially severe allergic reaction — sometimes landing that person in the hospital.
In tandem studies, the CDC analyzed test results from 2017 through 2022 to determine incidence of alpha-gal antibodies, and gauged the awareness of health care providers. They found an increase from 13,000 positive tests in 2017 to 19,000 in 2022.
The adjacent survey of 1,500 health professionals between March and May 2022, including primary care doctors, found that just half had ever heard of the syndrome, and only 5% felt knowledgeable enough to diagnose it. This brought the CDC’s estimate of syndrome numbers to around 450,000.
“The number of potential cases is far beyond what we thought,” the studies’ lead author Dr. Scott Commins, associate chief for allergy and immunology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, told CNN. “If the projection and estimate of nearly 450,000 cases is even approximately correct, this is the number 10 allergy in the country behind sesame, which is number nine and affects roughly half a million people.”
Another twist in this tick plot is that it can take years for the symptoms to be connected with meat consumption, because unlike with most allergies, the reaction is not immediate. It can take hours for a person to experience symptoms, which can include hives, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, severe stomach pain, difficulty breathing, dizziness and swelling of the lips, throat, tongue or eyelids.
With News Wire Services
